Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness

Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness Today

My original intended audience for Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness was college freshmen. Whenever I told my story early on however, I consistently heard, "high school kids need to hear this." I then dialed it back to high school juniors. About that time I began to learn about unschooling. Unschoolers were already practicing a part of my methodology. Of all the groups out there, they would be the most likely to get it. Although I support unschooling one-hundred percent, for whatever reason I didn't soley lock in on them. Time went by and between this site and the Facebook page, I was having a difficult time connecting my message with young adults and for that matter really, I connected with very few people.

I was discussing my endeavors with Carol Ross a few months ago and she stated what really should have been the obvious for me, "your total market is less than two percent of the young adult population." Meaning this is the segment of young adults who would embrace my philosophy and run with it. Actually this was a quiet, driving force behind the whole project. Quiet to my thick skull that is. The whole premise has always been - so few young people would follow this that they would indeed stand out from their peers! I just hadn't emphasized this perspective much, if at all.

Even if I'd shouted that point out however, I still wouldn't have done much better. You see, I am not a young person person. These are the type of people who can walk into a room of K-16 youngsters-to-young adults, and in an unforced and natural way, be one of them in a New York minute. It's a gift that I've had first hand witness to for thirty-eight years. My wife Rosemary is a young person person. This gift does not come naturally to me. I understand it on an intellectual level. I put on my young person social face and attempt to relate. But it requires a tremendous amount of energy and I still can't connect at the level that makes kids feel comfortable.

The thing is, because I had such a mind-numbing horrific time trying to figure out my career path, which in no uncertain terms led to my disease, I very much care about getting the word out to young adults. So I've decided to change my primary target audience to Baby Boomers. The general process of exploring paths of interest, connecting with people of influence, cultivating those relationships and standing out from one's peers applies to all generations. It's my hope that by providing these types of resources, information and knowledge to Boomers, they in turn will teach and mentor younger generations.

Scoop.it! What is Rabbit Hole HVAC & Plumbing?

What is Rabbit Hole HVAC & Plumbing and where are the HVAC & Plumbing articles?

Every Saturday morning I write Saturday's Rabbit Hole for The Service Roundtable, a select group of HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical and Solar contractors. I borrowed the idea in part from Roy H. Williams' Monday Morning Memo. And I borrowed the other part from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

My main intent is to stimulate contractor's imagination and make them think. I attempt to do this by providing content that cannot be found on their beaten path through the forest. That is not to say that I will not include material from HVAC & Plumbing websites, just not as frequently.

I look for creativity, innovation, learning, design, design thinking, trends, marketing and anything else that catches my eye in articles and various websites. 

I am a huge proponent of boundary crossing, visiting other industries for ideas, knowledge and wisdom. 

My Scoop.it! page here is stuff I find out in the woods while foraging for contractor content.

I highly recommend joining the Service Roundtable. If you're a contractor and purchase stuff like equipment, tools and supplies, you can take advantage of the Roundtable Rewards program. You have the potential to not only pay for your dues but to make money as well. 

The Start-Up of You

The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself and Transform Your Career by Reid Hoffman & Ben Casnocha. I need to review this book but I don't have to wait till then to tell you; this is a must read! I missed this book's launch by one year due in part to my narrow view of LinkedIn. Although I've been a member of the LinkedIn community since nearly its inception, I viewed it more of a place to go and get a job than that of a relationship building community. The Start-up of You shines a beacon of light on relationship building and the near limitless value of LinkedIn.

The value of The Start-up of You to Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness can best be summed up by its relativity to this blog's categories. It pertains to every single one here.

The Start-up of You Resource Page

 

 

Let's Go Exploring Careers

As you begin to explore the wide world of possible careers, what will you draw on your big sheet of white paper?

“Wow, it really snowed last night! Isn't it wonderful? Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand new!
A new year ... a fresh, clean start! It's like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on! A day full of possibilities! It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy ... let's go exploring!” 

Image by nite4awk

What is the Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness Facebook Page About?

In the days before we became a connected planet, we learned from our parents and our elders. We listened to their stories; we learned how to hunt, fish, grow crops, cook and make pottery. We added our experience and made our own stories which we then taught to our children. Along the way we learned how to solve problems, make stuff, make stuff better and make stuff that pleased us. We also learned that when dealing with others if we did this, or we behaved this way, then we got that. So if we wanted others to listen to us, if we wanted them to buy our stuff or if we wanted them to tell others about us, we behaved and did things a certain way.

Standing out in a Sea of Sameness is where Explorers come to learn about storytelling, to learn how to solve problems, make new stuff and make stuff better and more pleasing by developing a mindset and following a process. It's about how to stand out from their peers.

 Standing out in a Sea of Sameness's methodology is based on:

• Storytelling
• Brand Light
• Design Thinking

Storytelling

You are the orchestra's director. It's your job to make your own kind of music. Music comes from stories and it's your job to seek out storytellers who will add to your music. When you talk with a business owner, a professor or someone in your future field, you have access to their story.  If their story resonates with you, it becomes a chair in your orchestra. The music begins to blossom as the chairs in your orchestra diversify. As you add your own life experiences, your own stories, your music evolves into a symphony of its own.

Brand Light

My concept of branding as it relates to the individual, originates in Tom Peters' 1997 Fast Company article titled The Brand Called You: http://goo.gl/bDlG 

Your brand is that gut feeling that people have about you. While you can't totally control how others feel about you, you can behave in such a way that people think favorably of you. How? Be a caring human being.

Personal branding (popular term) gurus teach by relating commercial branding terms like brand assessment, strategy, attributes, audit, positioning and target to the individual. They encourage the person to figure out who they are and who they want to be, create a public persona and then communicate it to a desired audience in a consistent manner. Most of what I've read on personal branding is excellent and if adhered to, will help the individual to establish their brand. For the Explorer who is busting their tail on course work, has a job and is involved in student organizations, it's a bit much. Afterall, you want to do all of that and still have a life, have fun.

My suggestions for building a desirable brand are much more simplistic, yet not so democratic. For instance, I suggest adopting three personal values. You get to choose two. I choose integrity (for you). Building a brand while you are still in school is based on:

• What you stand for
• Values
• Communications
• Image

Design Thinking

If you want people to listen to you and to take you seriously, then you need to build your story with intent. You need to move through your educational journey consciously creating experiences, meeting people, solving problems, devising ways to improve your life and learning from it all while preparing for the road ahead. The best way to do this is to embrace a mindset and process of your own.

Traditional* design thinking is about developing solutions based on a user's needs. Potential users you might encounter in school are your professors, classmates, internship companies, employers, school admin, social media friends etc. Perhaps the most important user is yourself. And your greatest need is to get the most out of your educational experience while preparing for the road ahead and standing out from your peers.

When it comes to design thinking, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University, has created one of the most legible road maps. Use this guide to help build your own design thinking framework. Use it to tailor a process that works for you and use it now, do not wait until you graduate. Go here for Standford's d.school bootcamp bootleg: http://goo.gl/pMa5O

I look for elements of Storytelling, Design Thinking and Branding in the stories that I post-link out to on Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness' Wall. Use their ideas to spark your imagination, fuel your fire and begin to blaze your own trail.

I often refer to a segment of people as Old Adults. Here's my thinking, and it isn't anything other than: if you're not a young adult, you're an old adult. I think of it as a way to identify potential storytellers. 

*Actually there isn't anything traditional about design thinking. It's becoming a big, gnarly and unruly mass of grayness. There are as many meanings for the term as the number of times that Lindsay Lohan has been arrested. We'll continue to follow Stanford University's d.school philosophy on design thinking.

Stop by the Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness Facebook page today. Thanks!

Students of the World: Write a Letter

The Students of the World team received the letter below. They followed it up by posting a heartfelt, appreciative response. Melissa writes:

Your letter reminded me how important it is to encourage others, and that words of encouragement are often catalysts for the stories of progress that we value so much.

Explorers, how soon do you suppose Melissa and her team are apt to forget this kind gesture? Not very, right? What lesson can you take away from this?

p

Capture Your Flag: "Where are you seeking advice and coaching?"

Erik Michielsen, founder of Capture Your Flag, asks Joe Stump, "At this point in your life, where are you seeking advice and coaching?" Erik evokes two plus minutes from Joe chocked full of ideas and wisdom. 

Before I start...Joe uses the term mentor. Please try and not get hung up on this word. Think in terms of Guide to begin with. 

"At this point in your life..." Joe highlights this key part of Erik's question by explaining how his career and job related needs have changed over the years. He now thinks in terms of domain specific coaching. As a manager, he seeks management-related advice from managers. As a dad he seeks advice from other types of people. 

As an Explorer just starting out, you ask, "how is this info of value to you?"

Although you have your hands full with school, work and other activities, it's a good idea to form coaching-type relationships with people for subjects other than career exploration. Say for instance personal finance. You wouldn't have to devote the same amount of time as career exploration and its ROI to you is incalcuable. 

Jedi Council - Joe talks about his Jedi Council. I strongly encourage you to set up your own Jedi Council. Here is a fitness professional describing how build your own.

p

Old Adults and Young Adults

Young Adult - I trust that you are capable of determing who a young adult is.

Old Adult - If you're not a young adult you're an old adult.

This is my simple way to determine the difference. That's it.

 

Students of the World: "See the World in the Realm of Possibilities"

I am uber excited about Students of the World! I can't remember the last time I got an organization so quickly. Their mission is to shine a light on progress. They do this by increasing support and awareness for organizations who are improving the lives of others.

There is a very powerful lesson for Explorers here...

Students of the World 2011 from Students of the World on Vimeo.

In order for Students of the World to shine a light on the progress of others, they must first seek out those stories. And here's the thing, storyseeking is not a checklist item, it's a way of life. These young folks are in active pursuit of their curiosities.

As you the Explorer, explore career pathways or enhance the one you're already on, feel the passion of the Students of the World team. Strive to connect with your own storytellers at this level. See the world you've yet to explore in a realm of possibilities.

Explorer

Consider yourself an explorer. I personally love the word student. I myself am a student, a student of life. But I think there's a cultural perception to link students with conventional educational institutions e.g., student = school. And for the last thirty years, we all know about not only the perception of traditional schools, but also the reality.

Student

Aside from the relationship between student and school I just spoke of, my stumbling block to use this term is that it implies recipient... as in being on the receiving end of a teacher. Culturally, perceptually and of course literally, there is no verb association with the term student. The implication is a student is, she exists. No verb. No action.

Explorer

While the term explorer is also a noun, it evokes action, adventure and discovery. And really, if you're a person who satiates curiousity by proactively pursuing knowledge, information, wisdom and connection, aren't you also an explorer?

The Difference Between a Guide and a Mentor

You're thinking about becoming a physician's assistant. You know you want to help people but you're really not sure what a PA actually does. You muster the courage to contact a PA and set up an appointment for a half hour of her time. After that phone call you were actually quite surprised that she agreed to meet with you.

Your half-hour call with Liz went by in five-minutes. Liz agreed to answer future questions. She also gave you the name of another PA working in a different field of medicine. Time spent with Liz was enlightening. You can't wait to continue exploring.

At this point, Liz the PA is a guide.

At a recent party one of your parent's friends strikes up a conversation. Bob happens to be a PA. For some reason Bob sees a younger Bob in you. As you are an Emma, you temporarily dismiss any weirdness. You run into Bob a few months later and he invites you to spend an hour with him at the office. Bob senses your curiosity and enthusiasm. He offers to meet with you on a regular basis to help guide you through school. In return you agree to be prompt and give him your undivided attention.

Bob is a mentor.

Guides - It's up to YOU to get the guide to move from a noun to a verb. You are responsible to find them. You are responsible to set up the appointment. You are responsible to interview in order to secure information. And YOU are responsible to maintain the connection. For the sake of career exploration, there are two reasons to enlist guides.

1. To provide career and job related information in regards to their particular field of interest.
2. To provide career and job related information that will help you advance in that field.

Following your initial conversation, you ask if it would be okay to contact them in the future with questions and ask if they would be willing to refer other people who might be interested in talking with you. You thank them for their time and get a handwritten thank-you note in the mail to them by 5:00 p.m. of that day.

We'll be talking in the future about how to optimize conversations with guides and how to stay in contact with them.

Mentors - I think today's society places way too much pressure on young adults to have a mentor. If you don't have one today, no worries.

A mentor offers significantly more than a guide. Both in terms of time spent and advice given. The relationship is more structured and systematic even if it is amongst friends.

At Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness however, we're going to concentrate on guides. Ironically, if you do a good job of cultivating guide relationships and move forward with passionate curiosity anchored by respect, you might have to fight off folks from wanting to be your mentor.

Image: Woodturners of Southwest Missouri